Cobalt Iron
Cobalt Iron is a private SaaS company offering the Compass enterprise data protection platform for hybrid and multi-cloud backup, ransomware protection, and analytics-driven automation, sold 100% through channel partners to enterprise and government customers across 44 countries.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersLawrence, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Cobalt Iron does
Cobalt Iron is a privately held SaaS company that develops Compass, an enterprise-class data protection platform designed to natively run across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Founded in 2013 by Richard Spurlock and headquartered in Lawrence, Kansas, the company operates with additional offices in Austin (Americas) and the United Kingdom (EMEA). Its product architecture centers on the Compass Analytics Engine, which automates over 80% of backup operational and management tasks, scales from terabytes to exabytes (500+ petabytes in customer production), and integrates with IBM Spectrum Protect, VMware VADP/CBT, ServiceNow, BMC Remedy, Active Directory via LDAP, CyberArk, and major hyperscalers (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, Alibaba Cloud). Sub-products include Compass Commander (unified web dashboard), Compass Cyber Shield (immutable, air-gapped ransomware protection with patented Zero Access policies), Compass Migrator (legacy decommissioning), Compass Tape Gateway (IBM i VTL), and Compass Cirrus (cloud-native management).
The company sells exclusively through the IronClad Partner Advantage channel program covering VARs, VADs, GSIs, and MSPs globally, complemented by an IBM Cloud Marketplace listing and a federal delivery partnership with Jeskell Systems. Pricing follows a subscription usage-based model under annual billing, with documented unit economics of under $750 per terabyte for two data copies in two locations and capacity overage charges above subscription limits. Customer segments span financial services (CIBC, FIS, Capital City Bank, City of Manitoba), healthcare (Kaiser Permanente, HRMC), retail (Whirlpool, VF Corporation, Cheney Brothers, American Greetings), technology (IBM, Lenovo), biotech (Seres Therapeutics), utilities, and federal/defense (DoD-aligned federal BaaS, Sheltered Harbor Alliance Partner status). Cobalt Iron is founder-owned and operated with no disclosed institutional funding, no M&A activity, and a leadership team led by CEO Richard Spurlock, CTO Robert Marett (two US patents), CFO Mark Pougnet, and VP of Global Strategy Greg Tevis (35 patents issued or pending, ex-IBM).
Cobalt Iron firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cobalt Iron
- Legal name
- Cobalt Iron, Inc.
- Website
- https://cobaltiron.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Cobalt Iron is a private SaaS company offering the Compass enterprise data protection platform for hybrid and multi-cloud backup, ransomware protection, and analytics-driven automation, sold 100% through channel partners to enterprise and government customers across 44 countries.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cobalt Iron industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Enterprise Data Protection Software
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Network Security Managed Services (Firewall/IDS/IPS/SASE) (BPAEADAG)
Keywords
Where Cobalt Iron is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Lawrence
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices4 records
Markets served
Cobalt Iron business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Subscription Usage-Based SaaS: Cobalt Iron provides its software under a subscription usage-based model. Customers are extended a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable right to use the software during the Term. The Compass service monitors all capacity utilization for each customer and alerts partners when customers are nearing capacity limits.
- Usage-Based Capacity Charges: Should customers exceed subscription usage limits as set out in purchase orders, customers will be billed for additional capacity as set forth in those purchase orders.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Subscription-based SaaS model with usage-based capacity |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
Cobalt Iron product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cobalt Iron develops and sells Compass, a SaaS-delivered enterprise data protection platform built on analytics-driven automation, software-defined architecture, and multi-cloud support. Compass automates over 80% of operational and management tasks, integrates with IBM Spectrum Protect, and delivers built-in ransomware protection via Cyber Shield. The platform is offered 100% through channel partners (VARs, VADs, GSIs, MSPs) on a subscription usage-based pricing model and scales from terabytes to 500+ petabytes across on-premises, hybrid, and public cloud environments.
Product overview
Cobalt Iron's product portfolio is organized around its Compass platform — a unified, SaaS-delivered enterprise data protection solution. The core offering is Compass, which serves as the central SaaS platform with analytics-driven automation and built-in cybersecurity. Compass variants include Compass for IBM (with sub-modules Compass Tape Gateway for IBM i tape integration, Power Virtual Server, and Storage Protect) and Compass Cirrus for cloud-native management. Key platform components include Compass Commander (a unified web dashboard for centralized management, reporting, and policy control) and Compass Cyber Shield (a suite of built-in security features including ransomware protection, zero-access policies, and air-gapped vaulting). Compass Migrator is a migration tool for replacing legacy backup solutions. The platform supports workloads across on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP, IBM Cloud, Alibaba Cloud), and is delivered 100% via channel partners globally.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Compass: The primary SaaS-based enterprise data protection platform that delivers analytics-driven automation, ransomware protection, and multi-cloud backup capabilities for enterprise customers.
- Compass Cirrus
- Compass Tape Gateway
- IronClad Partner Advantage (IPA)
- Compass Migrator
- Commander
- Cyber Shield
- Zero Access
Products and services
- Compass Cobalt Iron's flagship enterprise SaaS data protection platform that enables enterprises to modernize and optimize legacy backup solutions into a simple cloud-based architecture with built-in cybersecurity, analytics-driven automation, and multi-cloud support.
- Compass for IBM Specialized variant of Compass tailored for IBM environments, supporting IBM Power Virtual Server, IBM i (with Tape Gateway), and IBM Storage Protect.
- Compass Tape Gateway A built-in software-defined Virtual Tape Library (VTL) within Compass that enables tape integration and long-term retention for IBM i environments.
- Compass Cirrus A cloud-native component of the Compass platform providing additional SaaS-based management and automation capabilities.
- Secure Automated Backup with Compass Enterprise-grade Backup-as-a-Service offering for IBM Cloud customers that provides automated data protection across multiple operating systems and database platforms through a single management interface, with availability across all IBM Cloud data centers worldwide.
- AI & Analytics-Driven Backup as a Service for Federal Agencies AI and analytics-driven Backup as a Service offering for federal agencies, delivered in conjunction with a Department of Defense data center, providing automation, ransomware detection, and cyber resiliency through Cobalt Iron's Compass platform with US-hosted operations in Richardson, Texas.
Quantifiable outcome
- Reduce CapEx by more than 50%
- +8 more outcomes
Companies that use Cobalt Iron
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Cobalt Iron technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration12 records
AI capability5 records
Feature9 records
Cobalt Iron partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, certified platform partner and integration partner.
- IBMcoreIBM and Cobalt Iron announced global launch of Secure Automated Backup with Compass, an enterprise-grade Backup-as-a-Service offering for IBM Cloud customers. The new service expands protection to a broader range of workloads and multi-cloud environments, available across all IBM Cloud data centers worldwide including North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and India. Supports Windows, Linux, macOS, AIX, IBM i, and various database platforms.
- Jeskell SystemscoreJeskell Systems, an IBM Platinum Business Partner, is working with Cobalt Iron to help federal agencies implement modern data protection architectures that integrate intelligent automation with enterprise infrastructure. Jeskell has 35 years of federal experience and top secret security clearances.
- Department of DefensecoreJeskell Systems and Cobalt Iron announced launch of AI and analytics-driven Backup as a Service offering for federal agencies, delivered in conjunction with a Department of Defense data center. This is positioned as the first AI-driven private government cloud dedicated to backup and recovery, with US-hosted operations based in Richardson, Texas.
- Sheltered HarborcoreCobalt Iron is a Sheltered Harbor Technology Solution Provider Alliance Partner. Sheltered Harbor protects public confidence in the US financial system if critical systems fail. Compass offers Sheltered Harbor participants full SaaS data protection with on-premises and cloud deployment options.
- Lenovocertified platform partnerLenovo is a certified platform partner providing cost-effective, non-proprietary hardware solutions for Compass deployments. Together applying chain of trust principles to data protection.
- Amazon Web Servicescertified platform partnerAWS is a certified platform partner for both on-premises and cloud deployments. Compass protects applications running in AWS and is available in all compatible AWS regions.
- Microsoft Azurecertified platform partnerMicrosoft Azure is a certified platform partner. Compass offers mature support for Microsoft Azure with deployment options including backing up non-Azure databases hosted in Azure.
- Google Cloud Platformcertified platform partnerGoogle Cloud Platform is a certified platform partner. Compass is available in all compatible GCP regions with protection for GCP VM operating systems and VMware applications.
- Alibaba Cloudcertified platform partnerAlibaba Cloud is a certified platform partner. Compass protects applications running in Alibaba Cloud.
- VMWareintegration partnerVMWare is an integration partner. Compass leverages Spectrum Protect for VE which uses VADP APIs and CBT for agentless backups.
- ServiceNowintegration partnerServiceNow is an integration partner. Compass supports integration into customer ServiceNow systems for workflows and ticketing.
- IBM Cloudcertified platform partnerIBM Cloud is a certified platform partner. Secure Automated Backup with Compass is available across all IBM Cloud data centers worldwide.
Scale indicators12 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Cobalt Iron competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Commvault: Commvault is a long-standing enterprise data protection and information-management platform with hybrid-cloud backup and Metallic SaaS offerings. It competes for the same enterprise backup modernization budgets as Compass.
- Veeam: Veeam is the leading enterprise backup and data protection software vendor with broad hybrid and multi-cloud coverage. It competes head-to-head with Cobalt Iron Compass in SaaS-delivered data protection for enterprise workloads across VMware, AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
- Rubrik: Rubrik is a publicly-traded, cloud-native data management and security company offering SaaS-delivered backup, ransomware recovery, and data governance. It is the most direct enterprise-grade competitor to Compass in zero-trust, immutable backup.
- Cohesity: Cohesity provides enterprise data protection, backup, and ransomware recovery delivered as a unified, SaaS-managed platform. It targets the same Fortune 500 and regulated-vertical buyer as Cobalt Iron with comparable multi-cloud and cyber-resiliency messaging.
- Druva: Druva delivers 100% SaaS-native data protection and governance for endpoints, cloud, and data centers. Its subscription, cloud-first model is structurally similar to Compass and targets enterprise compliance and ransomware-recovery buyers.
Broad incumbents
- Veritas Technologies: Veritas is a large incumbent in enterprise backup and information management (NetBackup, Veritas Alta). It overlaps with Compass in protecting large enterprise and federal environments but is a much broader portfolio vendor rather than a SaaS-native specialist.
- Dell Technologies (Data Domain / PowerProtect): Dell's Data Domain and PowerProtect appliances are the dominant legacy enterprise backup target market — Compass explicitly positions itself as a 'Data Domain replacement' at sub-$750/TB pricing. Dell is a broad incumbent with overlapping capability.
- IBM Spectrum Protect: IBM's Spectrum Protect is the legacy enterprise backup platform that Compass integrates with and competes against. IBM is simultaneously a partner (Secure Automated Backup with Compass) and a broader incumbent whose portfolio addresses the same data-protection buyers.
Emerging players
- Acronis: Acronis combines backup, disaster recovery, and cybersecurity (anti-ransomware) into a single platform for SMB through mid-enterprise. Its cyber-protection focus partially overlaps Compass's Cyber Shield messaging and SaaS delivery approach.
- Zerto: Zerto (an HPE company) focuses on disaster recovery and continuous data protection for virtualized and cloud environments. It overlaps with Compass in DR and ransomware-recovery use cases but is narrower than Cobalt Iron's full backup platform.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cobalt Iron social profiles
Digital presenceCobalt Iron compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Cobalt Iron financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cobalt Iron leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Cobalt Iron funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cobalt Iron M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cobalt Iron
What does Cobalt Iron do?
Cobalt Iron develops and sells Compass, a SaaS-delivered enterprise data protection platform built on analytics-driven automation, software-defined architecture, and multi-cloud support. Compass automates over 80% of operational and management tasks, integrates with IBM Spectrum Protect, and delivers built-in ransomware protection via Cyber Shield. The platform is offered 100% through channel partners (VARs, VADs, GSIs, MSPs) on a subscription usage-based pricing model and scales from terabytes to 500+ petabytes across on-premises, hybrid, and public cloud environments.
Is Cobalt Iron a public or private company?
Cobalt Iron is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Cobalt Iron founded?
Cobalt Iron was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Cobalt Iron based?
Cobalt Iron is headquartered in Lawrence, United States, in the North America region.
How does Cobalt Iron make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Subscription Usage-Based SaaS are the primary driver. The others are usage-Based Capacity Charges.
Who are Cobalt Iron's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Commvault, Veeam, Rubrik, Cohesity and Druva. Broad incumbents are Veritas Technologies, Dell Technologies (Data Domain / PowerProtect) and IBM Spectrum Protect. Emerging players are Acronis and Zerto.
Does Cobalt Iron have an API?
Yes. Cobalt Iron Compass provides RESTful APIs that enable data sourcing, feeds, and automation for customer landscapes. Compass supports integration into customer systems for workflows. All activities and services are driven with RESTful APIs, enabling orchestration and automation across the entire IT landscape, including user management, alerts and notifications, and reporting.
What industry is Cobalt Iron in?
Cobalt Iron's product category is Enterprise Data Protection Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEADAG, Network Security Managed Services (Firewall/IDS/IPS/SASE). Its NAICS code is 518 and its SIC code is 7370.